THE 70TH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
by FOURAnnieOdairFOUR
Summary: My idea of Annie Cresta's Hunger Games. WARNING: May be VERY dramatic. :) Enjoy.


CHAPTER ONE

The woman walks onto the stage. Her gold fingernails snatch at a piece of paper. I hold on to the person next to me. My hand is numb. How many do I have? Only ten I think. Ten is good. Ten is a small number…The woman's green lips open up…

"Annie Cresta."

Silence is all I hear. Silent birds. Silent wind. Silent waves. Silent me.

I walk up to the steps and stumble on my way up. I spot Finnick in the crowd. He looks distraught. The high pitched voice then calls out another name. I don't catch it, but I do hear a volunteer from the crowd. A brown haired boy, easily over six feet walks up onto the stage. It is not until I see his cold, grayish green eyes and definite smirk that I recognize him. Caleb. Why would he volunteer? He never does anything less than destructive for anyone… then his intention is clear. Caleb has not volunteered to save some boy. He has volunteered to kill me.

Finnick walks into the cold room. All I want to do is bury myself in his arms and refuse to let go. He looks into my eyes.

"It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. I… don't know what to do."

His voice breaks. I can't bear to see him like that.

"It's okay," I say, "It wasn't your six-inch fingernails that picked that piece of paper."

He looks away.

"But the capitol… they want you gone. You are the only thing I really love. They don't like that. I'm not following their rules."

I fall into his arms and stay there for the next four minutes. Then time is up.

"Annie…"

He says,

"Here," He hands me a beaded bracelet."As a token?"

I smile.

"Of course," I say, "Thank you."

Then we board the train. I watch the blurs of green as I travel to my fate. To my destiny. To death.

CHAPTER TWO

A woman walks into the dining cart. I recognize her as the victor of the 60th hunger games. She won when she was twelve. She is very young, probably early twenties. Her green eyes seem to be calming. They are too familiar. They look like my mom's.

"I'm your mentor," she says, "I'm guessing you'd like some advice."

I do not speak. This person might have been a killer career. I don't remember her games, so for all I know, she was. Or is.

The woman smiles weakly. "Well, when you need advice, I'll be there. I'm Luna."

She gets up and leaves. Another person enters the cart. Caleb. Suddenly I have the urge to call Luna back. Caleb rolls his eyes.

"Look at the idiot we got. She has no experience whatsoever. She won by chance."

I don't know if he is telling the truth or not, but he was rude.

"Don't say that. She might be the one that sends you the thing that saves your life."

He grins.

"Oh I won't need her help. As long as I get my hands on some knives, I'll win anyway."

His eyes stare strait into mine.

"Better watch out Cresta. You might just find yourself… dying. Painfully."

The next day, we arrive in the capitol. I am assigned to another modern, fancy, overly-techy room. I spend half an hour staring at myself in a mirror, watching silent tears falling down my face. Even though I am not really sad, I just feel hopeless. Like I could never win, even if I tried. Then I remember Luna, and how she said she'd be there if I needed advice. Well, I must have finally decided to go see her, because soon I am dressed and in the dining hall. I have a seat next to Luna.

"Hi," I say, "I think I'm ready for advice."

She smiles. "Survival or killing?"

The choice is easy.

"Surviving. I've seen someone die before and it's not pretty. I really don't want to kill anyone."

She looks at me.

"Well, neither did I. But I ended up having too."

I wonder why. I don't ask, because I don't really want to know who… or how.

"Well, maybe you could help me out with the basics. What to do at the cornucopia, I mean. If I should go for it, or run in another direction."

She turns to me.

"I went for it. But only because I can sprint, and there were no other obstacle in my way. If you can't sprint, or if something would either slow you down or block you, go in another direction. A concealed place would be best, I'd say in a forest. If you do decide to go to the cornucopia try and get something good. Do you have a weapon you're particularly good at?"

"Well," I say, "I'm good with knives and daggers. Not like I ever use them for… killing purposes. I don't even know how I can use them. I just can."

"If you see daggers or knives, grab them. Unless they are near the center. As for packs… I probably wouldn't bother unless they are close. Besides, big, bulky, heavy bags can just slow you down." She continues. "After that, run to a concealed place, best with trees. After you've spaced yourself out as much as possible, explore. Try and find out what natural things could threaten you." She pauses. "Do you know anything about edible food?"

"Not really," I answer, "I'm better at the other part of survival. Healing, first aid, all that stuff."

"Well," she says, "If that's so, then focus on the edible foods station. Besides, even if you knew about the edible vegetation in district four, you could end up somewhere exotic. Are there any other strengths or weaknesses I should know about?"

I consider this. What am I good at?

"Fishing, swimming, and tying knots. I'm good at that. As for bad… I'm not really willing to kill, or steal. Or break alliances."

She frowns.

"Well, it's good you can fish, swim, and tie knots, but if you're not willing to kill, steal, OR break alliances, it might be hard to win. Maybe don't have allies then."

"You don't want me to be with the careers?!"

She grins. Her eyes twinkle.

"No. They usually just end up killing themselves off anyway, so just avoid them."

I decide I like Luna. I like her a lot.


End file.
